More on Metro Mayor

On 4th May 2017, nearly 2 million voters across Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton will have the opportunity to vote for the first ever West Midlands Mayor.

The new Mayor will chair the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and is all part of a drive towards the devolution of powers and budgets from Westminster and Whitehall.

The new Mayor’s powers will be relatively limited to begin with, but it is hoped that in common with City and Metro Mayor across the world, their responsibilities and influence will grow over time.

The Mayor will have some direct powers and exercise other responsibilities in partnership with the council leaders and local enterprise partnerships chairs which make up the WMCA.

The devolution deal between the Government and the WMCA, which led to the creation of this new elected office, included a £1.1Bn investment fund over 30 years, or £36M a year, which the Mayor will control.Initial powers include:

The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with a range of other organisations including ourselves, has put together a toolkit which you can download here or visit its dedicated page here.

Another of our partners, Centre for Cities, is largely responsible for developing the Metro Mayor model. It has a range of useful resources on its website, including a guide to Metro Mayors: Everything you need to know about Metro Mayors.